How to Get Lean And Live A Healthy Lifestyle

010: Are You Toxic and When Is A Cleanse Necessary?

Before looking at the reasons why our bodies get toxins, it’s important to define toxins briefly. Toxins can be defined as countless dangerous chemicals, substances and heavy metals which we expose ourselves to on a daily basis as we live our lives. Some of the most common toxins in the environment include; lead, mercury, nickel, arsenic, radon/radiation, mycotoxins, gasoline solvents, disease-causing bacteria, formaldehyde, chlorine, kerosene, ammonia and ethanol.

So you might be wondering how do toxins find their way into my body?

Because toxins are in the environment, it’s impossible to avoid them completely. Most toxins in the environment gain access to our bodies because they are ingested or inhaled. When we eat, and drink and breathe the air around us the toxins have an opportunity to enter in. It’s inevitable. Some of the most common ways our bodies get exposed to toxins are:

through pollution

Industries produce most of the highly toxic chemicals, metals and materials released into the environment on a daily basis. Our bodies get exposed to industrial toxins directly and indirectly. Direct exposure could be from working environments i.e. people working in an industry or an office where they are exposed to harmful toxins on a daily basis.

Indirect exposure can occur when you live near such factories polluting the air you breathe in and the water you drink. It’s important to note that industries aren’t solely responsible for all pollution. Cars also pollute the air when they release toxic fumes. Any kind of machine that gets powered by fossil fuel also pollutes the environment by releasing toxic fumes which we in turn breathe in.

We also get exposed by:

The food we eat

We consume foods which are exposed to chemicals like herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. Although such chemicals are meant to keep harmful plant pests and diseases at bay, they do more harm than good when they find their way into our bodies.

It’s hard to imagine the amount of chemicals that are used from the growing stage of food to when the food gets to your plate. And it’s even more of a concern with the chemical composition of genetically modified foods and the chemicals contained in processed foods.

Even the meat we eat today is packed with harmful toxins from the hormones and antibiotics animals are given and in the foods that they consume. All these chemicals and toxins are stored in the tissues and cells of the plants and animals we eat.

Drinking water

The water we drink isn’t always 100% clean and safe. Although most water channeled to our homes undergoes vast filtration processes to ensure it is ideal for human consumption, public water systems at times violate federal regulations, compromising the quality of water channeled to our homes.

In cases where all regulations are followed, the systems may still fail to eliminate all pollutants. As a result, it’s very possible to find poisonous heavy metals as well as cancer causing chemicals in drinking water.

So to recap:

Our bodies get toxins simply because we are exposed to toxins everywhere every day. Although the human body has mechanisms for flushing out toxins, the body can’t be able to flush out all toxins. As a result, there are small quantities that remain and accumulate with time if we rely 100% on the body’s natural mechanisms for eliminating toxins in the body. This is where cleansing comes in handy.

Body cleansing or detoxification refers to the process by which we try to assist the body get rid of accumulated toxins in the body. Although there are many ways of detoxifying the body, most cleansing methods revolve around diet and nutrition. Just like when we can ingest the toxins, we can easily ingest the cleanse to clean our bodies from a cellular level.

Let’s go over the benefits of cleansing.

Increased energy levels

Cleansing increases energy levels in two main ways:

Cleansing get rids of most (if not all) toxins in the body which interfere with proper functioning of cells. As a result, cleansing results in optimal environments for cells to effectively perform their most important task which is producing energy.

Cleansing also increases energy levels since most cleansing diets are light with less calorie dense foods which require very little energy to digest. As a result, the body has more energy for other uses.

Another benefit of cleansing is:

Weight loss

This is another popular cleansing benefit. Many people are interested in cleansing so that they can be able to lose weight faster in a more natural and effective manner. When our bodies are packed with toxins, the body reacts by retaining more water to dilute the toxins and prevent them from causing serious harm i.e. organ damage.

In many cleansing methods revolving around diet, increased consumption of vegetables/fruits/fiber leads to rapid weight loss since such diets aren’t packed with calories. Also, fiber tends to expand the stomach as well as the intestines making you feel fuller faster when you haven’t really eaten much.

Also, when the body is free of toxins, the metabolism level rises drastically. Cleansing simply prompts the body to increase energy levels and burn more fat.

Improved immunity

Cleansing also puts the body in a better position to fight infections, allergies and common diseases. In fact, most people become less susceptible to common infections, diseases and chronic immune conditions after cleansing. This is mainly because cleansing diets are usually free of common allergenic foods like dairy products and grains.

Cleansing also removes toxins which weaken the immune system response. And cleansing diets are rich in vitamins which boosts immunity.

Reduced aches and pains

Vegetarian or cleansing diets are known to eliminate pain and inflammations linked to rheumatoid arthritis among other autoimmune diseases. As a result, cleansing reduces aches and pains. Cleansing diets promote healing which eliminates common aches and pains.

The benefits are very much worth the effort when it comes to cleansing. And there are many great cleansing options. I personally use a cleanse by Isagenix and love the results. I’ll leave a link in the show notes of what I use. I’ll also leave a couple of different options for you so you can choose what works best.

You may be thinking “I can’t go that long without food” but your body really acclimates to the cleansing process. When I’ve tried a cleanse for the first time I usually make sure it’s on a day that I don’t have much going on.